Frugal McDoogal's Variety Six-Pack - Beers # 5 & 6

While in Nashville the other night, the wife and I stopped by Frugal McDoogal's - a large, local beer, wine and liquor emporium where I picked up six specialty beers from their group of mix-and-match selections.

The last two beer soldiers to lay down their lives to my belly were Singletrack Copper Ale from Boulder Brewing, and the Fort Collins Brewing Company's Chocolate Stout. As the brewery names indicate these are both Colorado microbrews. The Copper Ale was decent but not worth any exceptional praise. I was much more impressed with their Hazed & Infused Ale that I blogged about a few days ago that was also in this variety six pack.

The Chocolate Stout was superb with great taste, smoothness and finish. I could be a little skewed in my accolades since I have not had a stout in a while during my recent IPA dabbling. Welcome home, son. This brew is from the same makers of the Rocky Mountain IPA in my last blog. A brewery worth a visit for sure.

Frugal McDoogal's Variety Six-Pack - Beers # 3 and 4

While in Nashville the other night, the wife and I stopped by Frugal McDoogal's - a large, local beer, wine and liquor emporium where I picked up six specialty beers from their group of mix-and-match selections.

I have actually had both of these next two beers before I started this blog, but they are good enough to (a.) drink again and (b.) log into this database. Terese's Pale Ale is brewed by Highland Brewing Company in one of my favorite cities in the world: Asheville, North Carolina. An excellent dry-hopped malty ale with nice body and taste. Their slogan at Highland is "Just a Wee Bit Different" but it sure more than just a "wee bit good."

I first had Rocky Mountain IPA back in April when I received it as a birthday gift from my brother- and sister-in-law who bought it at a great beer store in Chattanooga after asking the guy at the store to pick out their "best IPA" for them. Granted, it is a very good IPA or I wouldn't be drinkin it or writing about it, but I can't say it's my favorite. Of course that's the great thing about specialty brews - even ones with a particular brewing process like IPAs can still be different in taste and texture. Rocky Mountain is obviously brewed in Colorado and more specifically at Fort Collins Brewery.

Frugal McDoogal's Variety Six-Pack - Beer # 2

While in Nashville the other night, the wife and I stopped by Frugal McDoogal's - a large, local beer, wine and liquor emporium where I picked up six specialty beers from their group of mix-and-match selections.

The second one I had tonight was the Purist Pale Ale from the Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Not great, but not bad. Drinkable and smooth but somewhat forgettable. Their website does show a lot of promise with a Scottish ale, an IPA and a wheat ale that definitely peak my interest. And I do like their wallpaper choices to advertise their beers....

11-7-08 additional post: I am pretty sure that is Bald River Falls in Tellico Plains, TN (I wanted to get married there, so I studied the area very closely), and not a PA waterfall, but it is "technically" in the southern Appalachians, so I will give them a pass.

Frugal McDoogal's Variety Six-Pack - Beer # 1

While in Nashville the other night, the wife and I stopped by Frugal McDoogal's - a large, local beer, wine and liquor emporium where I picked up six specialty beers from their collection of mix-and-match selections.



The first one I had tonight was the"Hazed & Infused" Dry-Hopped Ale from The Boulder (Colorado) Beer Company. This is the first of their "Looking Glass Beers" which are taking a different approach to brewing focusing on an unfiltered process and a more natural product. Yummy with a capital Y! Can't wait to try some more of their concoctions.

Sept. 13-14, 2008 - Take Three (Home)

In what was probably the lamest excuse to go out and buy beer, I bought two new six packs of beer so I could use the cartons to carry some bottles of Peach Nehi that I bought in a North Carolina convenience store for my sister-in-law, Paige's, birthday. Yes, she loves them and, yes, they are hard to find around here.
Now, back to the beer.

The two new brews I got were Bridgeport IPA and BBC Nut Brown Ale....both get thumbs up. I have had Bridgeport before when this blog did not exist, but it's definitely worth adding to the list and definitely worth buying again. An excellent bottled IPA brewed in Portland, Oregon who claim to be Oregon's oldest craft brewery. BBC stands for Bluegrass Brewing Company and is bottled in nearby Louisville, KY. I have got to get by there for a tour of the brewery next time I am up that way playing poker across the river in Indiana. This English-style nut brown ale started off a little rough to me but after a few sips it really settled in and had a nice finish. Gotta also try this on draught next time I am up towards Louisville.

While in Chattanooga for Paige and her twin's (and my wife) birthday, I also bought a six-pack of White Hawk IPA in a wine store there (because it's 7% alcohol - double bonus!). This great IPA is brewed by Mendocino Brewery in Saratoga Springs, NY.

This is their East Coast location and they also have an original location in California in aptly-named Mendecino County north of San Francisco where they claim to have started Califonrnia's first brewpub.

Batting 1000 with a 3 for 3 weekend. Not bad. Not bad.

Harpoon IPA and Terrapin Rye Pale Ale

I have had Harpoon before but wanted to add it to the blog since it was before these writings began, and I do love it so. I was headed to the Poker Barn for a Saturday tournament and Craig is coming in Monday and said he wanted to try an IPA, so a beer run to Publix (sadly, the best beer selection in this one-horse town that I live in) was in order. I picked up Terrapin because it looked pretty good and I didn't want to kill all the Harpoon before Craig got here to try it. Had two Terrapins at the Poker Barn (busted out after a couple of hours, but at least I hit quad aces for a $50 jackpot). It's a pretty good ale and is brewed in Athens, GA --- seems odd that a brewery in the home of Georgia football would choose a Maryland mascot name. According to their website, the rye ale was their first concoction in 2002 and they mass-produce only two others. Harpoon is brewed in Boston and is fairly popular in that area despite bucking heads with the widely popular (and impressive to me for a common DOUGH-mestic) Samuel Adams.

Sunday, August 31st, 2008 - Brisbane/Gold Coast, Australia

We went whale-watching today off the Gold Coast as our last big activity before leaving Australia and afterwards had lunch at an Irish pub nearby called "Waxey's." Great place with good food and nice draught choices. My selection was Toohey's Black Ale which was very nice with a smooth finish. Come to find out "Waxey's" is actually a chain with some locations in S. Florida. Gotta look them up next time I am down that way.

Before leaving Australia the next morning, Ashlee accompanied me on an early evening hunt for the Brisbane Brewhouse/Microbrewery (photo above). It was the only brewhouse listed in the restaurant directory and was fairly easy to find just a few blocks from our hotel. It was a very cool place that patterned itself after a German beer hall but with more comfort and style. They had good eats and about six beers on tap that they brewed with great names like The "4th Reich" dark lager and what I had, the "Up Your Kilt" Scottish ale.

Great beer names and no T-shirts?? Man, what a marketing mistake! The Scottish ale was a wonderful brew and I only got it because they were out of their "American pale ale." Probably the best beer I had while in Australia. Sometimes you just never know. Good-bye Oz, thanks for the brews and the views.

Friday, August 29, 2008 - Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane is a beautiful city and they do like to get their drink on it seems. After walking around in the city's beautiful riverside park area we came across The Ship Inn, a great little pub near a couple of small universities in the area. My first choice was going to be a Bees Neez draught (just love that name), but they were running a special on a local microbrew bottle of Duke Mid-Strength Lager Beer (how can I pass that up as a Blue Devil hoops fan). It was ice cold and that made it pretty drinkable on a warm afternoon, but not good enough to go for another one so I opted for the Bees Neez draught next. As the name slyly implies this wheat beer is infused with honey. Very smooth and another good choice on a warm afternoon. Later that evening we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant and their beer selection was poor, so I opted to check another common Australian beer off the list. This time it was XXXX Gold (not to be confused with Dos Equis - twice as good? not hardly). Yep, it was another AustraLAGER and it was basically hop-less crap. What a waste of calories and money.

Thursday, August 28, 2008 - Barossa Valley, Australia

Wine was the order of the day for the most part today as we toured Australia's version of The Napa Valley, but I did manage to check off another Australian beer at lunch where Ashlee and I had our first-ever serving of kangaroo....pretty good stuff. The beer was Boag's Draught which is brewed in the nearby island of Tasmania. It was another lager, but not too bad especially with the red meat.